Adoption by IAEA Board of Governors of a Resolution Concerning the Russian Initiative to Establish a Reserve of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) for the Supply of LEU to the IAEA for its Member States

1813-28-11-2009

The IAEA Board of Governors (BG) on November 27 adopted a resolution concerning the Russian Initiative to Establish a Reserve of Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) for the Supply of LEU to the IAEA for its Member States, which opens the way for concluding a Russia-IAEA agreement to create on Russian territory a physical stockpile of LEU to produce enough fuel for two full loads of the world’s most common type of a 1000 MW pressurized water reactor.

In parallel with the already existing International Uranium Enrichment Center in Angarsk, another Russian initiative in the field of multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle is thus given practical embodiment. By the same token, the foundation is to be laid for a system to guarantee the supply of nuclear fuel, providing assurance to states that they will be able to receive it on a predictable, stable, cost-effective and long-term basis. This, in turn, will facilitate expanding the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

The range of potential recipients of material from the guaranteed stockpile will include non-nuclear-weapon state members of the Agency that have placed all of their peaceful nuclear activities under IAEA safeguards and comply with their nonproliferation obligations.

This initiative aims at strengthening the nuclear nonproliferation regime and is a concrete contribution of Russia to creating the conditions for successfully holding the 2010 NPT Review Conference.